A Malian jihadist yesterday pleaded guilty to ordering attacks on historic sites in the Malian desert city of Timbuktu in 2012, in the first case of an Islamist facing worldwide justice for cultural destruction.
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Al Mahdi led a group of radicals that destroyed 14 of Timbuktu’s 16 mausoleums in 2012 because they considered them totems of idolatry.
Most of the sites dated from Mali’s 14th-century golden age as a trading hub and centre of Sufi Islam – a branch of the religion seen as idolatrous by some hardline Muslim groups.
At the pretrial hearing, Al Mahdi told judges he planned to plead guilty, leading the court to schedule only a week for his trial.
The guilty plea was a landmark for the court, which has struggled to bring suspects to justice since its establishment in 2002. He and his associates “unleashed a destructive rage” that damaged priceless monuments for no reason other than their extremist worldview, she said.
Although al-Mahdi is suspected of committing other crimes, legal experts said the case had been narrowly focused to highlight the growing awareness in worldwide justice that cultural destruction is not only a war crime but also an intrinsic part of warfare aimed at destroying an opponent’s history and identity. The New York Times reports Mahdi was born near Timbuktu and trained as a teacher.
The Islamist militant responsible for spearheading the rampage that left several of Timbuktu’s ancient buildings and artifacts in ruins has pleaded guilty to his crimes.
Al-mahdi has expressed regret for his actions, which began when jihadists overran the city of Timbuktu in 2012 and appointed him the leader of their cultural police.
For the people of Timbuktu, freed from Islamist occupation by French troops in 2013, Mahdi’s trial is “a vindication of the importance of their culture and the place these shrines hold … as symbols of the culture”, says Cynthia Schneider, co-director of the Timbuktu Renaissance initiative.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor compared the Timbuktu case with the destruction of historic ruins in the Syrian city of Palmyra by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who have also turned artefacts from the Mosul Museum, Iraq’s second largest museum, into rubble.
The accused could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The prosecution is now due to call three witnesses as it lays out its case for sentencing before the defence team also addresses the judge during the five days that had been set aside for al Mahdi’s trial.
At the time of their destruction, the cemeteries were classified as world heritage sites, and under the protection of UNESCO.
The razing of the ancient shrines by jihadists triggered global outcry, and archaeologists hope the trial will send a stern warning that such plundering of our common heritage will not go unpunished.
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Islamist militants remain active in the region and regularly attack security forces and civilians who are slowly returning to the city.
